It's Monday 11/19! What Are You Reading?

I know this is getting a bit boring to read each week, but I had another rough sick week. This mysterious and severe flare-up of my chronic immune system disorder continued - last week was even worse. Into my 6th week of this now, and it's getting old! We are leaving Wednesday morning for a 5-day trip to my hometown, with the usual holiday marathon of family gatherings with every branch of my family. That's tough for me under the best of circumstances, so fingers crossed that I improve enough by then to manage it! I am able to sit up a bit (sort of halfway) this morning, so I'm hoping for the best. Hope for the best & prepare for the worst is our family motto!

Sick days = more reading time, so I've been enjoying Nonfiction November. Here's what we've all been reading this past week:

• I am still reading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, which has been on my bookshelf for decades. It was published in 1994, and my mom lent me her hardcover edition, so you do the math! Do you think she still wants it back? Anyway, my husband read it way back then, and I am thrilled to finally get to it, after hearing so many accolades over the years. It's a true crime story set in Savannah, GA, with vivid descriptions of Savannah and its very quirky citizens. There's a murder at the heart of the book, but it is also very amusing.
• I finished listening to Born a Crime by Trevor Noah on audio, and LOVED it!! My favorite book podcast, Book Cougars, is doing a readalong this month. Don't be put off if you don't like his TV show or stand-up routines. This is a memoir of his childhood growing up in both apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, and it is stunning, fascinating, moving, and of course, very, very funny. His insights - into race and poverty and having grown up poor as a mixed-race child in a country that was divided into white and black - are brilliant. I loved every moment of it and never wanted it to end (and then lent it to my son). Highly recommended.
• Next, I listened to another stunning childhood memoir, On Two Feet and Wings by Abbas Kazerooni (review at the link - I was so excited about it that I reviewed it immediately, despite my huge review backlog!). It's the story of the author's exodus from Iran in the 1980's to Turkey, where he tried to get a British visa - at the age of 9 and ALONE. I was riveted by this audio, read by the author, of his experiences as a small, sheltered child, separated from his loving parents and alone in a foreign country where he didn't speak the language. It's a moving, powerful memoir.
• This morning, I just began listening to Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old by John Leland. The title is a pretty self-explanatory - the author, a reporter, spent a year interviewing seven elderly people (ages 85 to over 100) and wrote about what he learned. It's pretty interesting, especially since my father-in-law is 93.
• My husband, Ken, just finished one of his birthday gifts from me, The Outsider by Stephen King. It's a suspenseful thriller with a touch of the supernatural (it is King, after all). He enjoyed it very much.
• Now, Ken is reading another book I gave to him for his birthday, The Silent Girls by Eric Rickstad, a thriller by an author he hadn't tried yet.
• Jamie, our 24-year old son, is back to his favorite Wheel of Time series and is now reading the final book #13, Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.

Blog posts from last week:

Movie Monday: Ricki and the Flash - a fun movie starring Mery Streep as an aging rocker

Fiction Review: America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie - fascinating & compelling historical fiction

Summary of Books Read in October - a record reading month for me!

Memoir Review: On Two Feet and Wings by Abbas Kazerooni - powerful memoir of a boy's journey from Iran to Turkey to the UK, all by himself at age 9

Saturday Snapshot: Late Fall 2018 - a bit of late fall color & first snow!

What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.   

What are you and your family reading this week?